Real estate agencies were very critical of the Housing Law before it came into force on the market and now they endorse this criticism with figures: in the Valencian Community they point out that the rental supply has fallen by 31% due to the new rule. It is one of the conclusions of a survey carried out by the National Federation of Real Estate Associations (FAI) and the Real Estate Association of the Valencian Community (ASICVAL), which shows a "strong imbalance" in the rental market just five months after approve the standard.
As a consequence of the lack of supply of regular rental housing and the behavior of the owners, regular rental management operations in Valencian real estate agencies have fallen by 28.75%. The fall is more pronounced in Alicante (-39.28%); They are followed by Castellón (-30.76%) and Valencia (26.48%) while the average for the Valencian Community remains at 31%. Regarding the portfolio of habitual rental homes, they point out a decrease of 45.81%, showing the disappearance of this type of property in the market. The drop in inventory is more notable in Alicante (53.84%) and Castellón (52.94%) than in Valencia (44.73%).
22.66% of Valencian real estate companies affirm that they have had to give up the rental business due to the new reality that the Housing Law has imposed, a percentage that rises to 38.46% in the case of Alicante real estate companies. However, the decision to take this measure is lower among real estate agencies in the province of Valencia (19.08%) and Castellón (17.64%). 8.86% of real estate agencies in the Valencian Community have chosen, instead, to update and improve their services aimed at tenants. 8.37% have had to reduce their staff while 6.67% point to an increase in sales operations in their agency. 9.36% have not noticed any changes.
The president of ASICVAL, Nora García Donet, points out that “without rental supply, with increasing demand, and with a law that does not offer legal protection to owners, there will not be a change in trend in the usual rental market. Prices are not going to drop either and, at best, we can only hope that they do not continue to rise.”
"From the real estate agencies we ask the future state government and also the regional government to face the social drama of housing from a consensus and taking into account expert voices in order to draft a new law," he added.
The approval of the Law has also impacted the behavior of owners, since, according to 24.33% of the real estate agencies surveyed, landlords have decided to toughen the requirements of potential tenants. Another 20.68% believe that they have been inclined to raise rents to mitigate demand and the risk of non-payments. For 16.99%, given the new legislative reality, the owners have decided to transfer their property to the temporary rental market, while 15.45% think that the transfer has occurred to the purchase and sale market, and 6.23% % to tourist rental.
Only 4.81% point to the fact that owners are self-managing to avoid having to pay agency fees, since the new law exempts landlords from doing so. Only 0.56% believe that they are putting their properties on the market due to tax incentives. 1.41% have not noticed any changes.
